Ha ha: “What a bullet this country dodged in 2008. Frankly, I’m not sure he was even the best candidate on his party’s ticket at this point…”

I understand if you don’t have the heart to watch the video, but it’s grimly fascinating. McCain sounds bad and looks bad. He’s tired and worn out. I doubt he’s near death, but if it were to happen tomorrow I would not be surprised on the basis of that video. He’s blinking all over the place and shuddering, and he says he believes in following military leaders and names two Chiefs of Staff who are wary of ending DADT while ignoring the other three, as well as the friggin’ Chairman and the Secretary of Defense, not to mention the president. He must think we’re stupid. It’s just funny that, in the end, McCain and Lindsey Graham are the only ones who even care about keeping DADT in place. The Senate Republican leadership doesn’t even care and is probably glad it’s over. Gay rights are a liability for Republicans now and the next big fight–repealing DOMA–is probably 5-10 years away at this point. Additionally, I hope this incident will help the media get over their notion that Lindsey Graham is anything special. Like Bob Corker, he often likes to talk like a Senator, but neither one has yet met an inconvenient position they couldn’t just dump or an inconvenient vote they couldn’t duck. There’s a word for that.

Then there’s the enduring question of our age: why does the media still invite McCain onto the Sunday shows? Here’s one idea:

No doubt that McCain still has many lovers in the DC press who still have stars in their eyes as they recall romantic moments with St. John in the back of the bus a decade ago. And because of those starbursts one can be sure that John McCain will still be a regular on the Sunday shows. But as the new angry McCain narrative grows those starbusts will fade. And yet, McCain will still be booked on those shows. But more and more he will be booked as a freak who can easily be poked and tormented and goaded into saying something crazy and irrational out of anger. He will be the go to ‘angry old man’ who yells at clouds as a predictable punchline.

I think it’s just habit at this point. Like Andy Rooney. Sure, it’s been at least 30 years since he was funny, but habits are hard to break.